Green "Art Deco" Pocket Square (or Handkerchief) of Carl Van Vechten, with His Nickname "Carlo" Stitched In

Near Fine. An "Association Copy" of Clothing, this is, once having belonged to the noted American novelist, photographer and chronicler of the Harlem Renaissance. While we have not commissioned a DNA analysis of the hankie to confirm that what was represented to us by the last owner as to the Van Vechten connection, nor have we gone through the scoured all the photos publicly available to see whether this particular handkerchief or pocket square was somehow visible in one of them, we trust our source, the prior owner, because of Van Vechten's stitched nickname on the cloth -- not that Carlo is an exotic name in the lexicon of names -- but more importantly, it is absolutely period correct and with a styling that is manifestly evident in the countless photos of Van Vechten who was a snappy dresser, a Beau Brummel in you will, of the times. One can easily imagine his pulling this out as he watched a midnight performance of a jazz band at Nick's Jazz Pub in Harlem, say. The pocket square is 45 cm on each side, and indeed, it is a pocket square in many more ways than name, for its geometric design scheme is built on the theme and or repeat of squares, which can be conceived in innumerable ways -- from the small white squares, 25 in all, that dot the center, to squares formed by perceiving these small squares as the corners of larger squares, to the squares formed by outermost of these to the pocket square "piped" edge, within which are white stitched lines, etc. But perhaps we are going on at too great length about the design which is best appreciated by looking at photos of the piece.